Miami Beach selects Alstom for railway vehicles loop

The Miami Beach City Commission has approved the start of negotiations for the development of a tram line with the Alstom-led Greater Miami Tramlink Partners consortium.

The consortium had submitted an unsolicited proposal for a tram line, which led to the city starting a competition for technical proposals. This attracted three responses.

The final route is still to be determined, but the city envisages that the catenary-free trams would run in a loop using dedicated lanes. The evaluation of the proposals did not consider the cost of construction, which is expected to be around $387m.

Alstom has proposed the use of its APS ground-level power supply system.

If a financial agreement cannot be reached with Greater Miami Tramlink Partners, the city will negotiate with the second-ranked Connect Miami Beach consortium of OHL, Globalvia, COMSA, Community Asphalt, Atkins, CAF, SENER, Railworks and LK Comstock which proposed trams using supercapacitor energy storage, and third-ranked Miami Beach Mobility Partners which offered Brookville trams with batteries.

‘This project aims about railway vehicles to substantially ease traffic congestion, link key points of interest, connect people with jobs and opportunities, reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions and save thousands of dollars in commuting and parking costs for residents and visitors’, said City Manager Jimmy L Morales on July 13.